New Delhi, April 10 Former Australia captain Aaron Finch believes Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) middle order lacked confidence and form in their innings against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Despite posting a competitive 181/4, Finch felt a few KKR batters struggled for rhythm and clarity during the middle overs.
“There was a couple of batters that looked like they were seriously searching for form,” Finch told ESPNcricinfo while analysing the innings.
KKR were well placed at 98/1 at the halfway stage, thanks to a solid partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi. However, the momentum dipped after their dismissals, with the middle order failing to maintain the same tempo.
Finch pointed out that Cameron Green appeared uncertain at the crease during the early part of his innings.
“When Cameron Green first walked in, it was like he was so unsure about his game. Do I play a big shot? Do I just accumulate for a bit? And what that does is you end up losing all your intent. You face a lot of dot balls. It builds pressure,” he explained.
The former opener was also critical of vice-captain Rinku Singh, who looked out of touch and scored just four runs off seven balls.
“Rinku, on the other hand, he just looked totally out of sorts. It was almost like he wasn't watching the ball as closely as what he could have. He's looking to play the shot, but all his weight is going away from the ball. It was really unusual, which is something that I haven't seen from him before,” Finch added.
According to Finch, the overall body language of the KKR middle order suggested a lack of confidence at a crucial stage of the innings, which eventually led to the team not crossing the 200-run mark.
“There was a batting line-up that looked short on confidence in that middle order,” he noted.
KKR eventually managed to recover in the death overs, with late hitting pushing them to 181/4, but it was not enough as LSG chased down the total on the last ball with the help of a match-winning 54-run knock from youngster Mukul Choudhary.
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